Hola BabySitters!
by storylover18
Summary: The BSC is chaperoning a trip to Zuni, AZ! Feelings will fly as the work that is much needed is done! Please comment!
1. Prologue

Prologue

**Prologue**

Dawn-Thursday

I am sooooo excited! I still can't believe that in only 2 day, 8 students, teachers and baby-sitters will board a plane to Zuni, NM. What are we going to do in Zuni? Work. I'd better explain a little. The local elementary school, Stoneybrook Elementary, is involved with Pens Across America program. It's a program that connects schools across the country and arranges for children to have pen pals. It's a great idea. Stoneybrook Elementary School (known as SES) was paired with the school on a Zuni reservation. The Zunis are Native Americans and have been in the United States almost since confederation. A little while ago, the Zuni school burned down because a gas station near it blew up. Some of the Zuni houses were also destroyed. It was really hard on the kids here in Stoneybrook, so the Baby-Sitters Club arranged a big fundraiser to send them items they needed to rebuild the school, as well a personal items for those who lost their homes. Ms. Besser, the teacher who has been the most involved with the program, called me last week. She said that the PTA had voted to use their extra funds to send 18 people to Zuni to do some maintenance work that was badly needed. Since next week's spring break, the PTA decided to send the group during the break so no one would miss school (rats!). Ms. Besser was calling me because she thought the BSC would like to come along and help work, as well as supervise the children. I talked with the BSC members and it was unanimous-we were all going to Zuni, except Shannon. She was going away with her family during spring break. 3 of the teachers at SES volunteered to go along. Ms. Besser, Mrs. Randolph, who is the nurse at SES, and Ms. Reynolds, the principal. A lot of the students at SES wanted to come, but we had to be selective because we only had room for 8. So we set up an application process. After reading over 50 applications, we managed to narrow it down to Jordan Pike, Byron Pike, Vanessa Pike, Charlotte Johanssen, Jackie Rodowsky, Shea Rodowsky, Haley Braddock, and Buddy Barrett. So now, the BSC, 3 teachers, and 8 kids are headed to Zuni! While we're there, we'll do all sorts of projects like painting and landscaping. We'll also do some fun things, like a big feast at the end of the week and various activities and games. I can't wait!


	2. Chapters 1 and 2

Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Dawn-Friday

One more day! I can't wait, but I've still got so much to do! I've got to pack, and go buy some stuff for donations (everyone going is supposed to bring 10 non-perishable food items and 2 personal hygiene items) and it's already 9:00! HELP! Mary Anne is already done and is playing with Tigger. At the meeting today, she said how hard it was for her to leave Tigger to go to school, let alone a full week. The BSC meeting was tons of fun…

"Attention!" Kristy called from the directors' chair. "This meeting will now come to order!" We all stopped talking and looked at Kristy. 'We' is Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill, Logan Bruno, Mallory Pike, Jessi Ramsey, and me, Dawn Schafer. We, plus Kristy and Shannon, make up the Baby-Sitters Club. We sit for families around our neighborhoods. Kristy is the one who thought the BSC up. One night, Kristy had to watch her mom's pizza get cold while she called all of Stoneybrook looking for a baby-sitter. Kristy thought it would be great if clients could call one number and reach a lot of sitters at once so they'd be guaranteed a sitter. So Kristy got together with Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey and they formed the BSC. When I moved from California, I was invited to join. Not long after, Mallory and Jessi became junior members, which means they aren't allowed to sit at night, except for their families. Finally, Logan Bruno and Shannon Kilbourne became associate members. They're kind of like back-up baby-sitters, in case no one else is available.

The club meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5:30 till 6:00. That's when our clients call us. Every Monday we collect dues. These pay for a lot of things, including Kristy's mode of transportation(her brother drives her because she lives across town), our KidKits, which are boxes filled with toys and games we take baby-sitting with us, and the occasional slumber party.

Kristy is the president of the club. She calls the meetings to order everyday and has never missed a meeting. Kristy is petite and short and is a tomboy. Her normal clothes are jeans, a turtleneck, a sweater, and a base-ball cap. Kristy loves sports and coaches a softball team for little kids, called Kristy's Krushers. Kristy's comes from a big family. Well, really her family is big because it's two families combined. Kristy used to live next door to Mary Anne and across the street from Claudia with her mom, her older brothers Charlie and Sam(who are 17 and 15) and her younger brother David Michael(who's 7). Her dad walked out on her and her family when she was 5. Kristy's mom then re-married a man named Watson. Watson is a millionaire and lives in a mansion across town. Kristy's family moved there and Watson and Mrs. Brewer adopted Emily Michelle. Emily is from Vietnam is very adorable. Kristy's grandmother moved in as well, to help take care of Emily. Watson also has two children from his previous marriage. Karen is 7 and Andrew is 4. They visit every other weekend. Besides all the people living in that house, there's a puppy named Shannon(after Shannon Kilbourne), a cat named Boo-Boo, two fish, Karen's rat, Emily Jr. and Andrew's hermit crab, Bob. Emily Jr. and Bob travel back and forth with Karen and Andrew. Kristy loves her new life, but still thinks about her father a lot. I think she misses him, but tries to show it.

Mary Anne Spier is the secretary of the club. She keeps the appointment book neat and organized. She's able to tell us who can take a sitting job on what day. She has never made a mistake. Mary Anne is as petite as Kristy but she's much more girly. Mary Anne likes wearing classic clothes like skirts and knee socks and blouses. This is probably because her dad raised her alone. Her mom died when she was a baby. Mary Anne loves her dad very much but he used to be very over-protective. Mary Anne finally found the courage to face him and he's loosened up. Mary Anne has a gray-stripped cat named Tigger. She also has a steady boyfriend. She's the only one in the club, which is hard to believe because Mary Anne's very sensitive. She cries at everything. Kristy and Mary Anne are best friends and they used to live next door to each other.

Claudia Kishi is the vice-president of the club because we hold our meetings in her room. She has a private phone number, so it doesn't tie up someone else's line. She also provides us with snacks. Claudia loves junk food, so she has it hidden all over her room. Despite the fact she eats tons of chocolate and sugar, she's still very thin. She has beautiful, creamy skin and long, black hair. Claudia's parents are Japanese. Claudia loves to dress wild and is always doing something wild with her hair. Claudia is amazing at art, so she often creates her own clothing and jewelry. Claudia isn't a very good student, but she does love to read Nancy Drew mysteries. The fact that's Claud's not very smart is hard on her parents. They love to read and are very conservative. Grades are important to them. Claudia has an older sister, Janine, who is a certified genius. She's only in high school but she takes college courses. Claudia doesn't like the fact that her parents don't think the arts are as important as academic excellence, but she doesn't let it bother her too much.

Stacey McGill is the treasurer of the club. She collects our dues every Monday and hands the money back out. Stacey is very pretty, with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, but she's had a rough life. Her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother. Her father lives in New York City, which is where Stacey was born. She visits him every chance she gets. Stacey also has diabetes, so she has to give herself injections everyday and keep a strict diet. Stacey's pretty happy, though. She loves math and is very good at it. She and Claudia love to go shopping together and Stacey loves trendy clothes.

Jessi and Mallory are best friends. They're both in the 6th grade and are 11(the rest of us are in the 8th grade and are 13). They both love reading horse stories and they both think their parents treat them like babies. But that's where the similarities end. Jessi comes from an average family-a dad, mom, brother, sister, and aunt. Mal's family has 8 children, including 10 year old triplets. Jessi has long, beautiful legs and is a ballet dancer. Mal has frizzy red hair, braces, and glasses and wants to be a children's author and illustrator. Also, Mal's white and Jessi's black. Jessi had some trouble being black when she first moved to Stoneybrook, but it's becoming easier.

Shannon and Logan are the associate members. I don't know Shannon very well. All I know is she has curly blonde hair and blue eyes and lives near Kristy. Logan is from Kentucky and has a really distant accent. All the girls think he's cute…and he's Mary Anne's boyfriend! It's amazing how perfect they are for each other. Shannon and Logan don't usually come to meetings, but Logan was at this one because he was coming to Zuni with us.

I'm Dawn Schafer. I'm the alternative officer, so I fill in if someone's sick or can't make a meeting. I have pale, blonde hair that's past my waist. I dress to please only myself. My parents are divorced and my dad and my brother, Jeff, live in California where I grew up. My mom and I moved out here, to Stoneybrook, Connecticut and my mom re-married Mr. Spier! Mary Anne and I are step-sisters. Our parents had been high school sweethearts. Mary Anne and I discovered this and we got our parents together again. We all live in my house, which is complete with a secret passage that was once part of the Underground Railroad.

So that's the BSC. Back to the meeting…we were all watching Kristy.

"Thank you." Kristy said. "Any new business?" Everybody shook their head so Kristy continued.

"As you all know, we leave for Zuni at 5:00 AM tomorrow morning. There are 8 kids to watch and there are 8 of us. The teachers will be busy, so why don't we each take a kid and make sure they don't get lost?"

"That's a good idea." Jessi said.

"Yeah. The buddy system. It's a rule whenever all of us Pikes go out in public." Mal said, grinning.

"Okay. Mary Anne, who's all going?" Kristy asked. Mary Anne pulled out the list.

"Haley, Charlotte, Vanessa, Byron, Jordan, Shea, Jackie, and Buddy."

"Okay. Who wants who?" Nobody said anything. Finally, Logan spoke up.

"I'll take Jackie." he volunteered. Everyone sighed. Jackie is a bit accident prone and can be a handful. After that, everyone slowly started choosing kids. Mary Anne got Jordan, Mallory got Haley, Jessi got Vanessa, Kristy got Byron, Claudia got Shea, Stacey got Charlotte, and I got Buddy.

"All right. This meeting is adjourned." said Kristy. "See you at SES tomorrow at 5:00!" Everyone started talking with excitement because we're going to Zuni!

**Chapter Two**

Mary Anne-Saturday

My father and I said good-bye this morning. I have to admit that he's getting better at doing that. He hardly even cried! Anyways, all 18 of us arrived at SES at 5:00 AM. It was confusing. It was noisy, despite everyone being so tired. It was cold. Needless to say, the teachers weren't in the best mood by the time we reached the airport…

So, like I said, everyone had to be at SES by 5:00. It was _freezing_. The teachers were loading our luggage into the school bus that was taking us to the John F. Kennedy Airport. Kids were hugging parents good-bye and BSC members were helping the kids. We all though Charlotte was going to cry after her parents left, but she was fine. It was surprising because she cried nearly the whole 2 weeks she was at camp. Kristy pulled Ms. Besser aside and told her our plans for the buddy system.

"Excellent, Kristy. I just knew you and your friends would be a big help on this trip." I heard Ms. Besser exclaim.

The school bus finally left at 5:30. Everyone fell asleep on the bus and the bright rays of the sun woke us up outside the airport.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Buddy, peering out the window at the taxing planes.

"Cool!" cried Shea, looking at the tall control tower.

Ms. Besser stood up.

"Children, may I have your attention, please?" All the children quieted down and faced Ms. Besser. She smiled.

"Thank you. Now, many of you know the Baby-Sitters Club. They are coming along to work and to play with you. In case you don't know, this is Kristy…" Ms. Besser went on to introduce us all.

"Kristy has worked out a buddy system, so listen for who you're paired with and stay close to him or her. They're there to help you, so don't be afraid to ask questions. Kristy?" Ms. Besser turned the floor over to Kristy. She stood up and smiled.

"Hi everyone. So, listen up closely because I'm only reading the list once. Shea Rodowsky, you're with Claudia. Jackie Rodowsky, you're with Logan. Haley Braddock, you're with Mallory, Charlotte Johanssan, you're with me, Buddy Barrett, you're with Dawn, Vanessa Pike, you're with Jessi, Jordan Pike, you're with Mary Anne, and Byron Pike, you're with Stacey. So as soon as you're off the bus, find your buddy and stay close. We don't want to lose anyone." Kristy sat down and the bus pulled up to the entrance. Everyone filled off the bus. Jordan walked up to me and smiled.

"This is going to be awesome!" he cried. I smiled.

"I agree. But let's get our luggage and get inside the airport, okay?"

Jordan nodded and found his stuff. I got her suitcase and Jordan and I walked into the building, followed by everyone else.

"Now, Jordan." I began. "Do you have everything you need for the plane? Your ticket, something to do on the plane, your coat?"

Jordan nodded. "Yep. My ticket's right here," he said, waving his ticket. "I've got my coat and some comic books in my backpack."

"Okay. I've got my stuff too. To the check-in counter."

We followed Ms. Besser and the rest of the group to the check-in counter, where we didn't wait in line at all. We all got seats and we went through security. No one had a problem getting through, although Claudia had to go through twice because the first time her metal jewelry set it off(she was wearing earrings she had made herself). Everyone made on last stop at the bathroom and then we went to our gate.

"Gate 17, Flight to Farmington New Mexico, 7:00, boarding now."

We all got up to leave and got onto the plane with no trouble. Once on the plane, we did have a squabble between Jackie and Haley.

"I want the window seat!" Haley cried, rushing for it.

"No, it's mine!" Jackie yelled.

Luckily, Logan's quick on his feet and reached them before they could continue.

"Why don't we just see who's ticket puts them by the window?" Logan suggested.

Jackie and Haley agreed and, as it turns out, neither of them had the window seat. It went to Charlotte. Everyone found their seats after that and sat down. All of them had flown before, so they all knew what to expect.

_Ding_ went a soft bell. The steward gave the safety demonstration and then the plane began to taxi. Soon we were lifted into the air. Somehow, being in the air made everyone tired, so as soon as our breakfast was done, we all fell asleep. The breakfast, by the way, wasn't as bad as normal. It was an egg omelet with 2 strips of bacon. It actually tasted good. I couldn't believe it.

After what seemed like forever, the captain came on the mike.

"This is your captain. We are about to make our descent to Farmington Airport. It is currently 10:02 AM and it's a beautiful clear day with the sun shining. It's approximately 89 degrees Fahrenheit. Please fasten your seat belts and return your seats to an upright position. Thank you for flying with us."

Everyone did as they were told and we soon landed. Once we got off the plane, and entered the terminal, we saw a huge banner that read "Welcome to Zuni, Kids of Stoneybrook!" All the pen pals of those along with us were there, as well as the principal of the school.

"Welcome!" exclaimed Mr. Woodward, the principal. "Let's get your luggage and get back to the reservation. Everyone is quite anxious to see you."

We did just that. The kids talked non-stop to their pen pals the whole time.


	3. Chapters 3 and 4

Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Logan-Saturday

Dear Mom, Dad, Hunter, and Kerry,

Hello from scorching hot Zuni! I'm not kidding-it's only 11 AM and it's already 95 degrees. We arrived safely, with only minor damages. Jackie managed to leave his coat in the airport. Tonight we are having a big get together at the school. It's going to be great!

Love,

Logan

I had my hands full at the airport today. Besides leaving his coat behind, Jackie managed to break a glass, fall off a seat, accidentally call his stewardess 3 times, and fall down while running to the Zuni kids. It was hard, but I think I did a pretty good job, though, considering all the stuff I had to stop Jackie from doing. Jackie wanted to climb up a fake tree, he wanted to walk backwards on the rolling sidewalks in the airport, and he wanted to ask if he could fly the plane. So, at least Jackie is here and is still in one piece.

So after we arrived at the airport, we took a 3 hour drive to the reservation. We pulled in and all of the children ran to greet us and the adults followed. Mr. Woodward showed us around town and then showed us the school. I thought Dawn would burst with pride when she saw the plaque thanking the children of Stoneybrook for helping with their school. Mr. Woodworth gave us the tour of the inside of the building and then assigned us rooms. While the girls had more teachers and chaperones than kids, I was in a room with the 5 boys.

After we settled in and freshened up, Mrs. Green, the mother of Haley's pen pal, Nancy, asked for our food. She took it all and she and the other woman cooked it all up and added some of their own food. The whole town sat in the gym and we had a big social event. Everyone thanked us for what we had done to help the school. Slowly, the sun began to set behind the horizon. The BSC members were watching the sunset from behind the school.

"Whoa…" I said, with an air of awe in my voice.

"That's gorgeous." Stacey said.

'Whoa' and 'gorgeous' are too weak of words to describe that sunset. The colors of the sun slowly faded till there wasn't any left and it was dark. The moon came out and see saw a million stars.

We finally had to go inside because the kids were starting to whine and we knew it was bedtime. With all the girls, we had no problem because we had almost 2 older girls to a younger one. I, however, didn't have as much help.

"Come on guys, time for bed!" I called out. All the boys groaned, but followed.

Once they were in their room, I divided them in half.

"Okay. You," I said pointing to Shea, Buddy, and Jordan, "go wash up in the bathroom first. The you two," I said turning to Jackie and Byron, "will set up your beds and get into PJ's. Got it?"

"Got it!" everyone replied. I went about setting up my cot(the Zunis had provided everyone with a cot, pillows, and blankets).

"Owww!" someone cried. I turned around and saw Byron making his bed, but Jackie was stuck. His cot hadn't been locked into place when he set it up and it folded back up-with Jackie in it.

"Whoa. Okay, Jackie. Hold still for a minute." I opened the cot and set the lock mechanism.

"Are you okay?" I asked. Jackie nodded. "Okay. Here are your sheets. You'd better hurry. The other boys will be back from the bathroom soon."

"Okay." Jackie said and started making his bed. I finished making my bed just as the other boys returned. Jackie and Byron headed for the bathrooms. I was about to follow, sensing Jackie might end up needing some help, when Jordan tugged at his sleeve.

"Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you?" Jordan asked, looking down.

"Sure. What's up?" I asked, leading Jordan to my cot. We sat down.

"It's just…I miss Adam. I've never been away before without him."

"Oh. I'm sure Adam misses you too."

"I doubt it. He's probably having too much fun having our whole bunk to himself."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I bet he's missing you as much as you're missing him."

"Really?" Jordan looked up.

"Really. Why don't you write him a letter? That might help. Explain how you're feeling."

"He'll probably laugh at me." Jordan said.

"Well, you don't have to send it. Writing down your feelings often helps you feel better." Just then I heard hysterical laughing from the bathroom.

"I'd better go see what they're doing. Do you feel better?"

"Yes. Thanks Logan."

"No problem. You can talk to me anytime." I said. We got up and I headed for the boys bathroom. I walked in and found myself in a sea of bubbles.

"Jackie…Byron…" I said, trying to keep his patience. "What did you guys do?"

I couldn't see the boys but he heard Jackie say,

"Well, I noticed that Byron had a lot of soap in his sink and with the water running, the soap just spread and spread. I wanted to see what would happen if we did that in all the sinks."

"You guys!" I cried. I was furious. Then I remembered they were only kids, so I counted to ten and started over.

"Guys, we're guests in this school. We have to treat in nicely. First of all, turn off the water." The boys did so and soon the bubbles started to dissolve. Finally, I could see Jackie and Byron.

"Come on guys. We have a lot of work to do before bed." So the boys and I set about cleaning all the bubbles up. It was 10:45 when I finally led them to their beds. The other boys were already asleep. I quickly washed up and crawled into my own bed, exhausted.

**Chapter Four**

Stacey-Sunday Morning

Its 6:00 AM, but us Connecticuters have been up since 4:00 because of the time change. I'm surprised that the girls fell asleep as quickly as they did. We're meeting in the gym for breakfast at 6:30 and then we'll divide into groups and see who's doing what today. I can't wait…

All the girls were running around the room playing some sort of game. Even Charlotte. I put down my journal and watched her. She's changed so much since we first met. Then, she wouldn't even go to sleepovers and yet here she is on the other side of the country.

"All right girls!" Ms. Reynolds called. "Time to get dressed." The girls stopped their game and began rummaging around in their suitcases. Although we had all been up since 4:00, only the BSC and the teachers were dressed. Ms. Reynolds looked at me.

"Stacey, do you want to go make sure the guys are up?"

"Sure." I got off my cot and walked to the guys room. I knocked on the door and Logan answered.

"Good morning. Ms. Reynolds just wanted to make sure you're all up."

"'Morning. Yep, we're all up. We'll see you at breakfast." Logan said, looking really tired.

"Are you tired?" I asked, smiling.

"Yep. You'll never believe what Jackie and Byron did in the bathroom last night. They put-"

"LOGAN!" Buddy screamed.

"You look busy. You can tell us at breakfast."

"Okay. 'Bye." Logan closed the door and I started walking away. I heard Logan yell,

"Yo, fellas!" I don't think I wanted to know what was happening in the there. I walked back to the girls room, where everyone was making their beds. After that, we all started up to the gym. The boys were already there, eating pancakes and eggs. The BSC helped the kids get their breakfast, then we got our trays and joined Logan.

"'Morning." Logan said, smiling.

"Good morning." Kristy said, sitting down.

"Boy, I'm starving!" exclaimed Claudia.

"Surprise, surprise." Dawn teased.

"'Morning Logan." Mary Anne said, sitting next to him.

"Hi. Sleep well?"

"Yep. You?"

"Funny story actually. We had a few mishaps in the boy's room last night."

"Uh-oh." Kristy said, smiling. "What happened?"

"Well, first of all, Jackie's cot collapsed with him inside of it."

"Was he okay?" I asked.

"Oh sure. He forgot to set the lock mechanism." We all laughed.

"Then, Jackie and Byron flooded the bathroom with bubbles. It took forever to clean up."

"Byron did that? Are you sure it wasn't Jordan?" Mal asked.

"It was Byron. But Jordan and I had a talk."

"About what?" Jessi asked.

"He really misses Adam. He said he's never been away from him before for this long."

"It's true." Mal spoke up. "The triplets have never been separated like this before."

"Yeah. Poor kid's taking it hard." We all looked at Jordan, who was laughing with Byron.

"Looks like he'll be okay." Claudia said.

"Yeah. I think night time is the hardest for the homesickness." Logan said.

"I agree. Char was fine at camp during the day, but at night I wasn't the only one in my sleeping bag." Kristy said.

By this time, we were all done breakfast. Ms. Reynolds and Mr. Woodsworth stood up.

"Attention." Ms. Reynolds said. Everyone faced her. "Thank you and good morning. We'll really excited to be here, aren't we?"

Everyone cheered. Mr. Woodsworth smiled.

"We're glad you're all here too. This week there's going to be 2 projects to do. We need to plant new gardens all around the school building and the hallways all need to be painted. So, we'll leave it to you to divide yourselves up into groups each morning."

"But," Ms. Reynolds cut in. "if there are problems, you will be either moved to the other group or we will find an individual activity for you to do. Any questions?"

No one said anything. While the kids were brushing their teeth, the BSC quickly met with the teachers.

"Would you divide yourselves between the two groups?" Ms. Reynolds asked.

"Sure." Kristy said. "I'll work outside."

"So will I." added Logan.

"Same here." Dawn added.

"Me too." Jessi said.

"I'd rather paint." Mary Anne said.

"Me too." Said Claudia, Mal, and me.

"Okay. We'll go between the projects all day. As for supervising, if you see kids misbehaving, give a warning first. If that doesn't work, tell one of us. Try to let the kids go to the bathroom one at a time." Ms. Reynolds said.

"Okay. Here come the kids." Kristy pointed out. She stood up on a chair.

"If you want to paint, go to that corner!" Kristy said, pointing to one corner. "If you want to work outside, go to that corner!" she yelled, pointing to a different corner. All the kids divided. Haley, Jordan, Byron, Jackie, and Buddy went to the corner with the outside work. Char, Shea, and Vanessa went to paint. The BSC members went to their groups and a principal went with each group and showed them what to do.

Ms. Reynolds came with us and showed us what to work on first. The paint was a soft green. It was nice. We started painting.

"This is fun!" Shea exclaimed. And it was…for about the first hour. After that, my back began to hurt. And then my feet. Then my neck. By the end of the day, I was SORE. I could barely move. I didn't know who was worse off-me or Jessi, who had gotten a bad sunburn. The painting, however, went well. We only had one mishap and that was when Vanessa accidentally knocked over an almost-empty paint tray. I was extremely gratefully for my bed that night.


	4. Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Dawn-Sunday

Dear Dad and Jeff,

Here I am in Zuni! It feels great to back in the warmth, although it's almost TOO warm. It was our first day here today and I worked outside planting shrubbery and flowers. The only think to tell is that I'm _very_ glad Mary Anne brought aspirin.

Lots of Love and Sunshine,

Dawn

This morning I was the last one awake. Maybe that's because I'm so used to going back and forth between the time changes. Breakfast was great and we soon started work. I decided to work outside. It was a lot of fun, but it was chaotic. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I caught on very quickly.

"And here, we're planting some flowers." Mr. Woodsworth said, pointing at a region of dirt. "Any questions?"

"Shrubs all the way around the building and flowers in the front?" asked Logan.

"Right." said Mr. Woodsworth, smiling. He walked away and Logan stood in front of the group.

"Okay. First, we need to turn up all the soil. It's very easy to do. Just take a trowel and dig a little bit up. After you've dug a little up, spread it around." Logan showed them what to do.

"But first, before we do anything, sunscreen." I put in. I handed each of the sitters a bottle and we slathered the kids and ourselves. Logan then divided sections for everyone to do. Normally, I hate it when people take over a group, but I had to admit Logan knew what he was doing. When I asked him about how he knew, he said,

"Yeah, I love to do it. The only problem is I don't have time for it." I smiled and asked what needed to be done after the soil was turned up.

"We need to plant everything."

"Is it hard?"

"Some of it is, but the small flowers and such is pretty easy. I'm afraid the BSC will have to do the bigger plants."

Since we had finished our sections already, we walked around the school looking at how everyone was doing. Everyone had big sections to do and a lot of kids did it well. Jackie, however, had some problems.

"Whoa Jackie!" I cried. Logan looked to see what was going on. He was helping Haley, but looked over and I saw him groan. Jackie had take "dig a little up" way too far. He had a pile of dirt next to him the same size as him.

"Uh, Jackie, you're only supposed to dig a little up." I said.

"Is that too much for a little?" Jackie asked, pointing to his pile.

"Just a little bit. Why don't we fill in your hole and start over?" I suggested.

"Okay." Jackie started re-filling his hole. When he was done, I showed him how to do it properly. Jackie started working and I stood up and watched. Logan walked up to me.

"Not bad Dawn. I see I'm not the only one who knows how to garden." Logan smiled at me.

"I'm like you. I like to do it but I don't have much time for it. All I have is some tomato plants by the barn."

"I know. Those tomatoes are _much _better than store-bought ones though."

"I know."

Just then Ms. Besser walked around the building and told us it was time for lunch. We went in and had a delicious lunch of salad and macaroni and cheese. Soon after, we headed back out. Our group was the same, except Byron decided to go in and paint. That was when the real work started. A BSC member or teacher had to be there when all plants were planted to ensure they were put in properly. By the end of the day, I could barely walk straight. My back hurt so much from bending up and down. I sprawled out on the floor of the girls' room and didn't move for half an hour.

**Chapter Six**

Kristy-Monday

Dear Mom, Watson, Nannie, Charlie, Sam, David Michael, Karen, Andrew, and Emily,

Zuni is so much fun! Our two projects are painting and gardening. It's hard work and all of us feel like we're going to break, but it's also a lot of fun. Talk to you soon!

Kristy XOXOXO

"Kristy?" I heard Mary Anne calling my name. I quickly finished off my post card and yelled back. Mary Anne came into the room.

"Oh, there you are. Logan's looking for you."

"Why?" I asked.

"Um, I think he's organizing a game of soccer and needs another referee."

"Cool. I'm there. Where is he?"

"On the playing field."

"Okay. Thanks." I jogged out of the room and went out to the field behind the school. I spotted Logan surrounded by kids near a soccer post. I went up to him.

"I'm glad you're here. I could use some help." Logan said, looking up.

"Cool. What game are we playing?"

"Soccer. We have teams-Zuni kids verses Stoneybrook kids. You want to coach one?"

"Sure. I'll take Zuni."

"Okay."

My team met and I met Nancy, Rachel, Conrad, Wendy, Joey, and Sam. We worked out a defense strategy.

"You ready?" I asked Logan.

"Yup." He called back. The kids went to their positions and Logan pulled out a whistle. He blew it and the game began. It was pretty close. Soon we had an audience. Parents and teachers came out to watch. Finally, Zuni scored a goal.

We took a water break and re-worked our defense. The second half began and I could tell all the kids were playing hard. With one minute left, Stoneybrook scored. The game ended up being tied.

We were all called in for dinner then. The hallways smelled heavily of paint. I took a quick peak at the work. It looked really good. Outside looked good too. We had managed to get about 1/3 of the flowers and plants in. We took our place for supper and ate another delicious meal. After supper, we told ghost stories. The kids were really tired by the bedtime and they went right to sleep.

The BSC met outside the school to look at the stars. We had done that the past 2 nights. It's absolutely amazing. You can see everything.

"You know, I think the kids are having a really great time." I said.

"Yeah." said Mary Anne.

"Jackie's still a handful." Logan put in. "His cot collapsed again last night." We all laughed.

"You laugh. You're not the one who had to get out of bed, rescue him, and re-make his bed." Logan said, but he was smiling.

"You know what we're doing for supper tomorrow?" Mal asked.

"What?" Stacey said.

"We're going to a native home and having a traditional meal. You can choose from 2 different courses. One's a bunch of different salads and fish and the other is turkey and different vegetables cooked with native seasoning."

"Yum." said Claudia. "Sounds good."

"Everything sounds good to you, Claudia." Jessi said. We all laughed.

"How's Jordan doing, Logan?" asked Mal.

"Better, I think. We haven't talked about it anymore." Logan replied.

"I'm going to bed." Stacey said, sitting up. "Anyone coming?"

"Yeah." Mary Anne said. We all agreed and got up. We went inside, said good-night to the teachers, and crawled into bed quietly. We all slept like rocks until we all heard a scream.


	5. Chapters 7 and 8

Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Mary Anne-Tuesday

Our morning began _very _early with a scream. Yes, I said a scream. No, there was not an axe murderer in the building. No, nothing had been stolen. What is was was Charlotte Johanssen having a nightmare. All of us woke up with Charlotte at 3:00. Stacey got out of bed and comforted her and we all went back to sleep…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" someone screamed. I sat upright. I looked around and saw many confused faces.

"What's going on?" I heard Vanessa mumble.

"What time is it?" Haley asked. I looked around and saw that Charlotte was still asleep, but she was tossing and turning and twitching. I leaned over to Stacey, who was sleeping in the cot beside me.

"Stace?"

"Hmm?" She mumbled, still half asleep.

"I think Charlotte needs you." That woke Stacey up and she sat up. Stacey really loves and cares about Charlotte.

"What's wrong?"

"I think she's having a nightmare." I pointed and Stacey got up and went to Char's bed. She gently shook Char and she woke up. Stacey listened patiently to Char's story and comforted her and helped her get back to sleep.

I fell back asleep and didn't wake up till Ms. Reynolds shook my shoulder.

"Mary Anne? Mary Anne?" I slowly woke up. "Time to get up. Breakfast is ready."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Okay. I'll be there in a minute." I gathered my stuff and went to the bathroom. I washed and dressed and headed for the gym. I joined Logan and the other sitters.

"…and it was really neat to watch." Logan said. Then he noticed me. "Good morning."

"'Morning. What was neat to watch?" I asked, taking a bite of waffle.

"Jordan and Byron. They were talking last night. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard it all."

"What were they saying?"

"Well, Byron walked up to Jordan…"

"Jordan?" Byron asked. Jordan turned over from his stomach, where he was writing a letter.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" Byron asked, sitting down.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" Jordan looked puzzled.

"Well, it's just I sense you're upset about something."

"Telepathy kicking in?" Jordan teased.

"Call it what you want, but I know you're upset about something." Byron said.

"Well, I really miss Adam. We've never been separated like this before."

"I know. But I'm sure Adam's missing us too."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Telepathy…remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"So, are you gonna be okay?" Byron asked again. Jordan nodded.

"Yeah. I'll have to learn to deal with it. I mean, what'll happen to Adam when the two of us go to college?" Byron smiled.

"Won't Adam go to college?"

"Are you crazy? Adam hates school!"

"That's true. Goodnight, Jordan."

"'Night Byron."

By the time Logan was finished his story, I was sobbing. I couldn't help it. But seeing the brotherly love they have is so…touching. Logan gave me a hug.

"Okay kids. Time to finish up!" Mr. Woodsworth called out. I dried my tears and finished my waffle, which was soggy from my tears.

I stayed inside to paint again because I have extremely sensitive skin. Claudia stayed with me and we had a good time talking while we painted. Claudia had come up with an idea she wanted to ask Mr. Woodsworth about. She wanted me to go with her. So at lunch, we both approached the table where the teachers were sitting.

"Mr. Woodsworth?" Claudia asked.

"Oh, hi. Claudia and Mary Anne, right?"

"Right. Claudia got a great idea she wanted to ask you about." I said.

"Of course. Have a seat." Claudia and I sat down. "Now, what's your idea?"

"Well, I noticed that the front lobby has a big, blank wall in it."

"Yes?"

"And, well, I was thinking maybe we could paint a mural there. It could be a map of the USA. We can paste pictures of Stoneybrook on the east and pictures of Zuni in the west."

"I think…" Mr. Woodsworth began slowly. "That that is a _great_ idea. Would you like to head the project?"

"I'd be glad too."

"Why don't you make some sketches and we'll talk more about it later?"

"Okay. Thanks!" Claudia and I got up.

"Thank you, Claudia. Talk to you later."

"'Kay." Claudia and I went back to our table where we shared the idea. The BSC thought it was a great idea, too.

We had to get back to work, only work ended at 4:00 that day because that night we were going to a ceremonial sacrifice the Zuni do. Then we were going to split up and have a traditional feast. I couldn't wait.

**Chapter Eight**

Dawn-Tuesday night

This evening we went to a traditional Zuni ceremony. It's where, once a year, they offer animals to their gods, asking them to bless the animals for the next year. It happened to fall on tonight. So we watched it and then we had the choice of 2 traditional meals. One was fried fish with different salads and dressings and the other was turkey with veggies cooked with home-grown spices. I had fish because I can't stand eating meat. It was delicious…

"Okay everyone! Time to pack it in!' Mrs. Randolph called. The kids hurried inside, leaving Logan, Jessi, Kristy, and I to clean up. It was probably just as well because we cleaned up very quickly.

Inside the girl's room, the teachers had organized a line for those who wanted to shower before dinner. The BSC quickly showered after the 2 girls that wanted to and we got ready. We were told to dress nicely for the occasion, so skirts and blouses were pulled out of suitcases. I put on my white skirt, the one with the flare, and a pale blue blouse. Mary Anne said the blouse brings out my eyes.

We all met outside the school, in the middle of the town. There, we saw everyone dressed in native clothes. Over to the side, we saw a dog, chicken, goat, and cow lying on the ground, slaughtered. I quickly turned away. We stood and watched the ceremony. It was actually really neat.

What happened was someone from each age group brought up one of the animals and put in on a fire. Then they said something in their native language, some sort of chant. We watched all the animals be burned. As the fire was dying, people started leaving towards their homes.

"All those from Stoneybrook!" Mr. Woodsworth called. "This is an annual offering asking the gods to protect our animals. We normally sacrifice a cat, too, but we couldn't find one in time. The one we were going to use ran away. Anyways, thank you for coming to the ceremony. Now you have a choice of two meals…fish and salads or turkey and vegetables. If you want fish, follow Mrs. White. If you want turkey, follow Mrs. Redriver."

I started towards Mrs. White. Jessi, Mary Anne, Logan, Stacey, Mrs. Randolph, Ms. Reynolds, Vanessa, Jackie, Shea, and Buddy all followed. I heard Logan lean over to Mary Anne.

"You should've brought Tigger with you. He would've come in handy." He said, laughing.

"Logan!" Mary Anne cried. "How can you say such a thing?" Mary Anne stormed off to the other group, not giving Logan a chance to respond. He looked at me.

"I was only joking."

"It's okay. Give her some time to cool down. She's had a rough day."

"Okay." Logan said. We had reached the White's home and sat down to fish and salads. It was delicious.

Later that night, I crawled into bed.

"Mary Anne?" I whispered.

"Hmm?" She said.

"Logan didn't mean to hurt you. He was joking."

"I know. But I'm still mad at him." Mary Anne rolled over. I sighed and went to sleep.


	6. Chapters 9 and 10

Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

Logan-Wednesday

Okay, so last night was really fun. I love fish, so I went with that group. Mary Anne was with me, but I said something about her cat and now she's mad at me. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't listen.

This morning began at 3:30 _AM_ when I felt someone shaking my shoulder.

"Logan? Logan? _LOGAN!_"

"What? What is it? I said, sitting straight up.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Jordan said, looking at me.

"Well, then what are you doing here? Go to the bathroom. I'll be there in a minute." Jordan ran off and I kicked off the covers and sighed. I looked over and saw that all the other boys were asleep, although Byron's bed was empty. I got up and walked to the bathroom where a _very_ unpleasant odor met me. I took a deep breath and went in. Two stalls were closed.

"Jordan? Are you okay?" I asked.

"No." He gagged and I heard what I assumed to be him throw up again.

"Logan, is that you?" I heard someone ask.

"Yep-Byron, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Are you two okay?"

"No."

"What did you eat for dinner?"

"We had the turkey."

"Both of you?"

"Yep." I heard a toilet flush, but no one came out of a stall.

"Okay. I'm going to go get Mrs. Randolph, okay?"

"Okay." someone said. I left the bathroom and started walking to the girl's room, wondering how I was going to get Mrs. Randolph without waking up everyone.

The problem ended up solving itself. On the way, I bumped into Kristy. She was running towards the girls' bathroom.

"Kristy?" I called.

"No time to talk!" She called back, ducking into the bathroom. I sighed. Seeing Kristy confirmed my suspensions. I was willing to bet that Jordan and Byron weren't the only ones affected by the turkey they ate. I knocked on the girls' door. Ms. Reynolds answered.

"Logan! What can I do for you?"

"Well, um, is Kristy okay? I passed her running down the hall…" my voice trailed off, not yet willing to confirm the worst.

"Well, I'm afraid the group who ate turkey for dinner got sick from it. I'm thinking it's probably food poisoning."

"I was afraid you'd say that. Byron and Jordan are doing the same thing Kristy is."

"Thanks for telling me. Either Mrs. Randolph or I will come down there soon to check them out as well as the other boys. In the meantime, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do for them."

"Okay." The door closed and I turned and walked back to the boy's room. I saw that Byron and Jordan's beds were still empty, so I went and sat outside the boy's bathroom.

After about 15 minutes, Mrs. Randolph came.

"Hi," I said, getting up. "Jordan and Byron are in there." I said, pointing to the bathroom.

"Do you want to go get them? Bring them back here, if you can."

"Okay."

I went into the bathroom where Jordan was rinsing his mouth and Byron was in a stall.

"Jordan. How're you doing?" I asked and Jordan just shrugged. "Mrs. Randolph is waiting for you outside. She wants to ask you some questions."

"'Kay."

I followed Jordan outside. Mrs. Randolph had Jordan sit down. She stuck a thermometer in his mouth. I just stood back and tried to stay out of the way. After awhile, she took the thermometer out of Jordan's mouth and read it.

"102 degrees. Jordan, you ate the turkey for dinner, didn't you?" Jordan nodded. He opened his mouth to say something. Instead, he got up quickly and darted back into the bathroom.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked Mrs. Randolph.

"Yes, eventually. In the mean time, we'll keep checking on them. We don't want to lose control over fever because, since we don't know what kind of food poisoning it is, it could prove fatal. We have some medicine that should help them rest."

"Great." I murmured. "Who else has it?"

Mrs. Randolph thought for a moment.

"I believe Kristy, Claudia, Mallory, and Haley all do."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Mary Anne was okay.

"Oh, and Mary Anne."

My heart sank. _Mary Anne_ was going through _this_? I felt so bad because she would've eaten the fish with me if I hadn't opened my mouth about Tigger. I wanted to slap myself. Just then, Byron came out of the bathroom, looking pale.

"Jordan said you wanted to see me?" he asked.

"Yes. Why don't you sit down?" Mrs. Randolph did the same thing with Byron as she had done with Jordan. His temperature was 101.

"I think I'm going to lie down again." Byron said when Mrs. Randolph was finished. We watched him start towards his room but he doubled back and went back into the bathroom.

"Poor kids." I said.

"It can't be fun, that's for sure. The food poisoning won't go away until their systems are totally clear of the turkey. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to throw up."

"Do we want to put all the sick people into one room?" I asked. "I mean, is it contagious?"

"No, it's not contagious. But Ms. Reynolds is working on getting the key to another classroom so we can keep them all together. It'll be much easier to moniter their conditions. Also, it'll allow them to rest undisturbed from the others."

"I'll go see if Ms. Reynolds needs some help moving cots."

"That's fine-I'm sure she'll appreciate it. I'm going to go check the other boys. Do you know if any of them ate the turkey?" I shook my head no.

"You didn't eat it, right Logan?"

"No, I didn't." I said. Then I turned and found Ms. Reynolds.

"Thanks Logan." she said, after I offered to move cots.

"We're setting up new cots in the room by the bathrooms. We're getting new linens, too."

"Okay."

"Mr. Woodsworth is in there now."

"Okay."

I went off to help Mr. Woodsworth. I found him and we set up all the beds. Since all the cots had been used for our normal beds, people had contributed air mattresses. They were all single sized and about a foot off the ground. I realized that they all must've bought them at the same time because they were all the exact same. Mrs. Woodsworth showed up with new sheets and the three of us made up the beds, which looked pretty comfy.

"I feel terrible about this." Mr. Woodsworth said, when were done.

"It's not your fault. But why isn't the turkey affecting the Zuni people?" I asked.

"I think it's because our systems are used to the way we eat our turkey. I had that turkey and it was certainly cooked." I didn't know what to say to that, so I said,

"I'll go tell Ms. Reynolds that we're ready for the people."

"Okay. I'm going to go back to my home. I'll be back soon."

"Okay. I'll tell Ms. Reynolds for you."

"Thank you Logan."

"No problem."

I got up and walked to the girl's room. I knocked again and Stacey answered the door this time.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi." She said, looking uncomfortable in her pajamas.

"The room is ready for everyone." I said.

"Okay. You know-" Just then Ms. Reynolds appeared.

"Oh, Logan. Are the beds ready?" I nodded.

"Do you want to help Haley to the room? She's the only one here that's not in the bathroom."

"Sure." I said. Ms. Reynolds turned back into the room and led Haley to the door. She looked absolutely awful. She could barely walk. I knelt down, and picked her up. Her skin felt hot and dry in my arms. When Haley didn't say anything, I carried her all the way to the room. I placed her in one of the beds and covered her with a blanket.

I walked back to my room to put some real clothes on. There was no way I was going to get any more sleep tonight. I glanced at my watch. It was 5:48. Once I changed, I noticed that Jordan and Byron were back in their beds. I walked over to them and woke them up. I felt terrible doing it, but I did anyways.

"Hey guys. You need to go to the room by the bathroom, okay? Can you walk?"

"Yep." They mumbled, getting out of bed. I followed them to the room. Byron turned into the room and found a bed. Jordan made a detour to the bathroom. I didn't know what to do, so I went into the room. I saw that almost all the beds were filled now. I glanced around…Kristy, Mallory, Claudia, and Ms. Besser. I took a double take.

"_Ms. Besser?" _I thought. _"Great. Just great. Mrs. Randolph didn't mention that _Ms. Besser_ had it too."_

I heard the door open, so I turned around. There was Mary Anne.

"Hi Logan." She said. She was going to say something else, I could tell. Instead, she turned around and ran back into the bathroom.

**Chapter Ten**

Kristy-Wednesday

I. HATE. TURKEY. Just thought I'd make that clear. Normally, I love turkey. But right now, I HATE IT. Uh-oh. I'll be right back…

…sorry about that. Where was I? Oh yeah. Turkey. I HATE IT…

Needless, to say, I was one of those sick on Wednesday. I was miserable. I don't really remember much about the night. All I remember is running back and forth to the bathroom. I think I passed Logan once. Finally, Mrs. Randolph gave me something that let me sleep for awhile.

When I woke up, I didn't know where I was. I slowly sat up and looked around. Around me were Mary Anne, Claudia, Mal, Ms. Besser, Jordan, and 3 empty beds. Mrs. Randolph was leaning over Ms. Besser and Logan was sitting on one of the empty beds, looking around. I was about to look at my watch, but I felt my stomach start to rise. I jumped out of bed and dashed to the bathroom, where I threw up in a stall. I leaned against the stall door and took a few deep breaths. I flushed, went out and rinsed my mouth. Mary Anne was there, doing the same.

"Hi." I said.

"Hi."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Those who ate turkey got food poisoning."

"Eww."

"I know."

Mary Anne and I left the bathroom. As we were about to open the door to the bedroom, Jordan and Mal dashed out. We went in and I went back to my bed. I laid on my side and watched Logan and Mary Anne. I could hear what they were saying.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked. Mary Anne nodded as she laid back down.

"I feel awful, Mary Anne. This is all my fault."

"What? No it's not, Logan."

"Yes, it is. If I hadn't teased you, you wouldn't have gone to the other group and you wouldn't have gotten sick."

"Oh, I see. Logan, please don't blame yourself. It's okay."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thanks Mary Anne. I feel so much better. I just wish you did. You look terrible."

"I wish I did, too."

"Kristy?" I heard my name being called. I stopped watching Logan and Mary Anne and turned to see Mrs. Randolph standing above me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I said, how're you feeling?"

"Not bad. I've been better." I said and Mrs. Randolph smiled.

"I'm glad to see you slept a little. Can I take your temperature?"

"Sure." I opened my mouth and accepted the thermometer. I waited and Mrs. Randolph took the thermometer. I looked at her expectantly.

"It's 100, Kristy. Not too bad."

"That's good."

"Do you need anything?"

"No thanks."

"Okay. Call if you do."

"Thank you."

I fell asleep again and when I woke up, I had to make another run for the bathroom. I returned and laid down again. Dawn, who had been sitting with Jordan, came over to me.

"Hey. How're you doing?" she asked, sitting down. I shrugged.

"Do you need anything?"

"No, thanks. Dawn, how many of us are sick?"

"Eight of you."

"What are the other kids doing?"

"Jessi and Stacey are playing with them outside right now."

"Oh. What time is it?" Dawn looked at her watch.

"10:02."

"It's only 10:00?"

"Yep."

I moaned into my pillow and Dawn smiled.

"Sorry you feel so crummy."

"Thanks."

"Dawn?" called a voice from across the room.

"I've got to go. Logan and I volunteered to do the sick shift while Ms. Reynolds goes to town to get some stuff."

"Okay. Thanks."

"No problem." Dawn left. I looked around and saw Jordan, Byron and Mary Anne sleeping. There were numerous empty beds and I saw Logan talking to Haley. Haley was giggling about something. I smiled and rolled over onto my stomach.

I laid that way until my stomach started to hurt. I quickly got up and left the room. All the stalls were full in the girls' bathroom, so I had to settle for the trash can. After I was finished, I rinsed my mouth and returned to my bed. Logan was checking on Byron and saw me come in. He left Byron and came to my bed.

"Hi." he said, as I laid down again.

"Hi."

"How're you doing?"

"Not bad."

"You look pretty good compared to others."

"Really?" I asked. Logan nodded.

"How are the others doing?" I asked.

"Well, let's see. Byron and Jordan have slept most of the time, so they're doing pretty good. You, Mary Anne, Haley and Mal are about the same. Claudia and Ms. Besser have it the worst, I think."

"Oh. It's nice of you to be in here with all of us. Wouldn't you rather be outside?"

Logan shook his head. "No. I actually don't mind doing this. As long as I know it's not contagious, that is." I laughed and Logan smiled.

"Call if you need anything, okay? Logan said. I nodded.

The rest of the day followed the same pattern. We all slept, and we threw up. Then we slept some more. Logan and Dawn visited everyone a few times. By the end of the day, most of us were almost better. Claudia and Ms. Besser still had it the worst.


	7. Chapters 11 and 12

Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Jessi-Wednesday Night

I feel so bad for all those who have food poisoning. They must feel miserable. Needless to say, not much work got done today. It was decided that Stacey and I would take care of Charlotte, Vanessa, Jackie, Shea, and Buddy today. We didn't do much work. Okay, we didn't do any work. But we did look at some Zuni art and heard tales about Zuni beliefs…

Today was a lot of fun. Dawn and Logan volunteered to take care of all the "victims". Stacey hates anything to do with barf and I'm not to keen of it myself. We played soccer, spud, jump rope, kickball, statues, and just about every game we could think of. Mr. Woodsworth came out and showed us some Zuni art and gave us a book on Zuni beliefs and folk tales. We managed to read the whole book. By the time it was 9:00, everyone was really bored. They actually _wanted to go to bed._

We got everyone ready. Logan joined us and helped the boys to bed. Inside the girl's room, we tucked in Vanessa and Charlotte. Stacey and I didn't want to go to sleep just yet, so we decided to check on everyone.

We went into the room and saw Mrs. Randolph hovering over Jordan and Byron, Logan was with Mary Anne, Ms. Reynolds was with Haley and Dawn was with Claudia. Claudia looked the worst. Dawn was sponging her down with a cool cloth. Stacey and I shot each other worried glances. Stacey headed towards Kristy and I went to Mallory.

"Hi," I said, sitting down. "How do you feel?

"Hi Jessi." She said, smiling. "I'm fine. I feel pretty good, actually. It's been almost 3 hours since I threw up last."

"That's good. Maybe you'll be up and around tomorrow."

"Maybe. But I have a feeling Ms. Reynolds and Mrs. Randolph don't want us working just yet."

"I guess. Is Claudia okay?" I asked. Mal looked over to her.

"I think her fever's really high. She's still making trips to the bathroom every 10 minutes or so."

"Oh. I hope she'll be okay. Is she the only one like that?"

"Nope. Ms. Besser isn't doing that well either."

"Oh, too bad."

"Yeah." I saw Stacey get up and go to talk to Claudia and Dawn.

"Do you need anything?"

"Nope. Thanks though, Jessi."

"You're welcome. Sleep well."

"I will."

I got up and went to Claudia's bed.

"How is she?" I asked Dawn.

"Not good…she's sort of delusional. At least she knows when she's needs the bathroom. But other than that, she's kind of non-functional. She doesn't even really know you're here."

"That's not good." Stacey said.

"What's not good?" Logan had joined us.

"Claudia's kind of non-functional."

"That's not good. Does Mrs. Randolph know?" Logan asked. Dawn nodded.

"But there's nothing we can do except keep her cool."

Logan nodded. "Is someone going to stay with her tonight?"

"Dawn is." Stacey said. "And I think Mrs. Randolph is going to stay in here anyways."

"That's probably a good idea." Logan said.

"Yeah. Let's hope there's improvement before morning." I said. I glanced at my watch.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Good night everyone."

"Night Jessi." Everyone said. I left and got ready for bed. I wrote Becca a quick postcard.

Dear Becca,

Hi! How're you? Things here are good. Today was chaotic because half of the people got sick with food poisoning. Don't worry. I'm fine and so is Charlotte. Can't wait to see you!

Love, Jessi

I turned out my small reading light and fell into a deep sleep.

**Chapter Twelve**

Jackie-Thursday

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hi! Zuni is a lot of fun. We've painted and gardened. I have sunburn from being outside so much. You won't believe what happened yesterday! Half of the peoples got food poisoning from eating turkey! Don't worry, though. I ate fish instead of turkey, so I'm fine. Shea's okay too. I miss you all!

Signed Jackie Rodowsky

PS-Pat Bow for me!

PPS-Shea says hi!

Yesterday, we didn't do anything because a lot of people had food poisoning. Boy, am I glad that I chose to eat fish for dinner. Everyone was running back and forth to the bathroom. It was gross.

Stacey and Jessi played with us and we read a book of Zuni folktales. My favorite was the one about how the big dipper appeared in the sky. We were all really bored most of the day, so we went to bed really early.

I woke up this morning at 6:00. I rolled over and waited for our wake-up call. I didn't really want to get up. I had to, though. Everyone was at breakfast, except Ms. Besser and Claudia. They were still sick. Mr. Woodsworth got up and made an announcement.

"Attention, please!" We all quieted down to face him. "Thank you. Today, the normal plans will continue. However, those who were sick yesterday, you don't have to work if you don't feel up to it. You're welcome to just stay inside." Mr. Woodsworth sat down and everyone got up. I went to the hallway where Kristy was setting up sheets.

"Hi Kristy." I said.

"Hi Jackie. Are you going to paint today?"

"Yep. I'm glad you're feeling better." I said and Kristy smiled.

"Thanks. I'm glad too!" Kristy said and I laughed. Soon we were joined by Mary Anne, Jordan, Haley, and Charlotte. We began painting the wall. The wall was supposed to be yellow. But the other walls were green, purple, and blue. Why did we keep changing colors? I don't know why, so I just painted. I did have one accident, though. I was so involved in painting that I painted right over a door. By the time Kristy realized this, the paint was already dry, so we needed to pry the door open. I felt really bad, but Kristy said it was okay.

We took a break for lunch and then we painted some more. We painted so much that we actually ran out of yellow paint. All of us were covered in smudges of yellow. I went to the bathroom and saw that I even had paint in my hair. I decided to leave it there because I'd always wanted to see what I'd look like with yellow hair.

After we cleaned up ourselves and the hallway, we went to dinner. Claudia was there and so was Ms. Besser. I was glad they weren't sick anymore.

After dinner, the teachers took all of us on a walk and Mr. Woodsworth took the members of the Baby-Sitters Club somewhere. On our walk, we saw some cacti and a kangaroo rat. It was awesome! We got back to the school and it was time for bed. I had to take a shower-Ms. Reynolds said so, so the paint came out of my hair. I crawled into bed and fell asleep. I don't know when the Baby-Sitters Club got back because I was asleep.


	8. Chapters 13 and 14

Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

Claudia-Thursday

I finally clued into what was happening around 3:30 AM this morning. I had just returned from one of my many trips to the bathroom. Dawn was waiting for me. I don't know what happened…maybe my fever broke or something. Anyways, I didn't really remember anything, so Dawn quietly explained things to me…

I quietly opened the door to the bedroom and saw Mary Anne, Kristy, Mal, Ms. Besser, Dawn, Haley, Byron, Jordan…I did a double take.

"_Byron and Jordan? What are they doing in the girl's room?"_ I asked myself, as I found me bed again. Dawn stirred as I laid down. She was in a sleeping bag next to me. I nudged her.

"Dawn?" I whispered.

"Hmm…oh, Claudia. Are you okay?"

"I think so…what's going on? Why are Jordan and Byron here and why are you in a sleeping bag?"

Dawn sat up. "Claudia, do you remember anything about today?"

"No…what's going on Dawn?"

"Claudia, you have food poisoning. You've been throwing up for almost 24 hours now."

"Really? But why are Jordan and Byron in here?" I asked again.

"Everyone who ate the turkey for dinner Wednesday night got the food poisoning."

"Why are you in here? You don't eat meat."

"I'm here to watch you. You had it the worst. You were so delirious today. You didn't even notice when Jessi, Stacey, and Logan were talking to you."

"Really?" Dawn nodded.

"Are you feeling better now?" I nodded.

"My stomach feels pretty good, actually."

"Maybe your fever broke. One second." Dawn said, she got up and found a thermometer by the end of my bed. She stuck it in my mouth and waited. She pulled it out and read it.

"99. You're almost normal Claud."

"That's good. I'm going to go to sleep now."

"Good. Don't bother about getting up early. You're not going to work today."

"Okay. 'Night Dawn."

"'Night." Dawn laid back down and we both fell asleep.

When I woke up, Ms. Besser was the only other person in the room. I sat up and looked at my watch. 1:34!

"_Whoa," _I thought. _"I must've been tired."_ My conversation with Dawn came back and I realized I felt fine. Just then, Stacey stuck her head in.

"Good morning!" she said, coming in.

"'Morning." I replied.

"Feel better?" she asked. I nodded.

"Good," she said. "I'll send in Mrs. Randolph. She'll look over you."

"Okay." I said as Stacey left to go back to work. I laid there until Mrs. Randolph came in. We exchanged hellos, and she took my temperature. It was normal.

"Congratulations, Claudia. You're as good as new!"

"Good!" I said, getting up. "Can I get dressed and go see what everyone's doing?" Mrs. Randolph nodded.

"Just don't do any work, okay? You don't want a relapse."

"Okay." I got up and went back to the girl's room. I got changed and did my hair. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Then I walked around. I found myself staring at the wall where I was going to paint my mural. I realized that we needed to paint that tomorrow. I got out my sketch pad and drew what I wanted it to look like.

After the sketch was done, I found Mr. Woodsworth. He was outside, talking with Logan.

"Hey! Look who it is!" Logan called, as I walked towards them.

"Glad to see you up, Claudia." Mr. Woodsworth said. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I realized that we'd have to paint the mural tomorrow, so I drew the sketch. I thought you might like to take a look at it." I showed him the sketch and he nodded.

"Looks great, Claudia. I'll go and find pictures of everyone. If we don't have some, you can sent them or we can take Polaroid photos of the ones who are here."

"Okay. Can I start sketching it on the wall?" I asked. Mr. Woodsworth nodded.

"Sure. I'll be back with the photos." Mr. Woodsworth hurried off.

"It looks great Claud." Logan said.

"Thanks."

"I'm glad you're feeling better. You weren't looking too good yesterday."

"I'm glad too. Although I don't really remember yesterday."

"I imagine. You didn't even notice all of us talking to you."

"That's what Dawn said. Where is she?" I asked.

"Over there." Logan said, pointing around the corner.

"Okay. Talk to you later."

"Yep." Logan said, starting to dig a hole. I walked over to Dawn.

"Claudia!" she exclaimed. "You're up!"

"Yep." I said, smiling.

"Feel better?" she asked, and I nodded. I showed her the sketch and she loved it. I let her get back to work and I went inside and drew the sketch on the wall. Just as I finished, dinner was served.

I was somewhat hungry, but I didn't eat that much. Ms. Besser was also at dinner, which was good. During dinner, Mr. Woodsworth came up to the BSC table.

"If it's okay with you, I want you all to come with me. I want to show you something you'll never forget."

"Sure. When?" Kristy asked.

"As soon as you're done."

"Okay." Mr. Woodsworth walked away and we all looked at each other, wondering what he was going to show us.

**Chapter Fourteen**

Mallory-Thursday

We all really wondered about where Mr. Woodsworth was going to take us. We all piled into the van and when we stopped and got out, we were in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much land formation-just a few rocks. But after Mr. Woodsworth pointed something out, we all knew we would never forget it…

After dinner, we piled into the van Mr. Woodsworth drives. We drove for about half an hour and then we stopped. We all piled out of the van and looked around. We were in the desert, and all we saw was some cacti and rocks.

"What's so special about the desert?" I asked Jessi. She shrugged.

"Okay everyone! This way." Mr. Woodsworth began walking towards a plateau. We followed. When we reached the ridge of what was actually a huge canyon, we all looked up and gasped. No words are able to describe the beauty of what we saw.

There was a full moon rising above the plateau, surrounded by steams of light of many different colors.

"This is the full moon surrounded by Aurora Australis, more commonly known as the Southern Lights. This is the only night of the year they can be seen here."

"Whoa…" Jessi finally breathed out. Every one just stood there, gaping at the view.

It was so gorgeous. It made me think of the beauty of God. Now, we're not regular church-goers, but we do go on holidays and special occasions. Not many things make me think about God, but this was so beautiful that I'm sure God was showing us part of himself.

We must've stood there for 20 minutes. Then Logan and Mary Anne sat down, dangling their legs over the edge of the canoyn. We all followed suite. I think we sat there for over 2 hours. We watched the moon rise and the lights became fainter. In my mind, I thought of Vanessa, who I'm sure could compose a poem capturing the view. I looked down to Claudia, who was staring at it. In her mind, I'm sure she was visualizing a painting she was going to do.

After another hour, the lights faded all together. We got up and walked to the van.

"That was absolutely amazing." Mary Anne breathed.

"Yeah." agreed Stacey.

"I think 'amazing' is too weak of a word." Kristy said. Mr. Woodsworth smiled.

"I love seeing this. I come out here every year just to see it."

"I can see why." Logan said.

"Well, we'd better start heading back." Mr. Woodsworth said. "It's after 10:00."

We all got in the van and looked out the windows till we couldn't see the moon anymore. Once we got back to the school, we said good-night to Logan and us girls went to the bathrooms to wash up.

I told my friends what it had me think of.

"I had the same thought." Stacey said.

"Me too." said Jessi, Claudia, and Mary Anne. We all smiled at each other and quietly walked back into the girl's room. Everyone was sleeping and we crawled into our beds. I thought of the view as I drifted into sleep.


	9. Chapters 15 and 16

Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**

Dawn-Friday

I can't believe that the week is almost over! In 24 hours, we'll be saying good-bye to the Zuni people and boarding the plane home. Today we have a lot to do. Claudia is painting her mural in the front lobby, the rest of the painters all have to finish 2 hallways, and the landscapers have to finish the front garden and then plant seed on the soccer field. It's going to be hard to ensure we finish it all, but the BSC is up to a challenge…

I woke up this morning at 6:30. My mind wandered to what had happened to the night before and I smiled. It was so beautiful, and I'll never forget it. Then I realized that today was our last day here and we had a lot of work to do. I got up and got dressed and went to breakfast. Everyone else was there and I joined them.

"'Morning." I said, sitting down.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Kristy teased.

"Sorry. I guess I was tired."

"I should think so, seeing as you didn't sleep on Wednesday night and worked all day yesterday." Logan said.

"We have a lot to do today." I said, taking a bite of cereal.

"Do we ever. I've got to paint that mural today. I only want two or three kids working on it with me."

Kristy nodded. "Yeah, there's not a lot of room in the lobby. The landscapers have a lot to do too. Unfortunately, a lot of it is stuff only we can do."

"Yeah. We need to plant flowers and finish the front garden. The kids could sprinkle grass seed on the field and water the flowers." Logan said. I nodded.

"There's a lot to do inside, too. 2 hallways need to be done." Stacey said.

"Let's hope we get a lot of help." Mary Anne said.

We all finished our breakfasts and the group split up. Logan, Jessi, Kristy, and I went outside with Jackie, Byron, Jordan, and Haley. I had to admit it, but Haley could do some good work outside. I know she received some grief from the boys about how gardening was "boys" work. That made me mad, but Haley just stood there and took it. Better yet, she proved them wrong. I was really proud of her.

Claudia, Charlotte, and Shea went to work on the mural and Mallory, Mary Anne, Stacey, Vanessa, Buddy, and Mrs. Randolph went to work in the hallway.

It was another _very_ hot day. The kids were told to water each plant and make sure no weeds were growing. This kept them occupied and they kept each other cool with the hose. Meanwhile, the BSC members were working hard.

There were 3 flats of flowers to plant, as well as grave to be laid, and a bench to be put in.

"Why don't we put the bench in first, and then add a gravel path. We can landscape around that when it's done." Logan suggested.

"Sounds good to me." said Kristy. It took all four of us to lift that bench. A native had built it, but it was HEAVY. Even with the four of us, we could barely get it to the place it needed to go. After the bench had been secured in place, we laid a gravel path. We ended up having to put wood along the sides of it to support it. That took an extra hour.

We were called in for lunch and we found ourselves with 4 wet children. We had to tell them to change before they could eat. After we ate, we set back out. We showed the kids how to sprinkle grass seed. They thought this was the coolest thing ever.

"Oops." I heard, as Jessi and I were walking away. We turned around and saw that Jackie had dropped his pail of seed.

"Jackie." I groaned.

"I'm sorry. I'll pick it up." Jackie dropped to his knees.

"It's okay. It was an accident." Jessi said, kneeling to help him. "I'll help you."

"Thanks Jessi." Jackie said. I smiled at Jessi and went up front. Kristy and Logan were unloading the plants and flowers from the truck. After they were unloaded, the truck drove away. We figured out where we wanted to place the flowers and plants and went to work. We finally finished, and it looked great. Mr. Woodsworth came out to look at it.

"That's simply beautiful! Thank you so much." Mr. Woodsworth said. He shook our hands.

"You're welcome. It was our pleasure." I said.

We headed around back and cooled ourselves and the kids off with the hose.

**Chapter Sixteen**

Mary Anne-Friday

I can't believe today was our last day! We had so much to do. I didn't think we'd finish in time. But we did. Logan, Kristy, Dawn and all the kids did a great job outside and we managed to finish painting inside. Claudia's mural looked absolutely awesome…

After breakfast was done, everyone sprang into action. As I said, there was tons to do. We had to paint two hallways still. Claudia took Charlotte and Shea to work with her, Dawn, Logan, Kristy, and Jessi took Jackie, Byron, Jordan, and Haley outside and Mallory, Stacey, Mrs. Randolph, Vanessa and Buddy went to work in the hallways.

We worked quickly and our arms ached by lunchtime. But we managed to finish the shorter of the two hallways. Everyone was already sitting down and eating by the time Mal, Stacey and I joined them.

"Look who it is!" cried Logan. "They have paint chicken pox !" Everyone laughed. Mal, Stacey and I looked at each other and then we saw what Logan meant. We were all covered with specks of paint. Out clothes, our faces, our hair, our shoes, everything. We laughed and sat down.

"Honestly, though. You really look like you have the chicken pox." Logan said, smiling.

"Please. I don't want them a _third_ time!" Mal said.

"You've had them twice?" Logan asked Mal.

"Yep. It's not fun." Mal said, taking a bite of salad.

"I'll take your word for it. I've never had the pox." Logan said.

"You _haven't?_" Kristy exclaimed. Logan shook his head.

"Nope. Don't really want them, either."

"Can't blame you there." Stacey said.

"Luckily for you, most of our clients have had them." I said.

"Yep." Logan said, smiling.

"Well, time to get back to work." Dawn said, standing up. We all cleaned up our mess and went back to work.

We managed to finish the final hallway just as dinner was being called.

"We did it." I said, looking at the hallway.

"Just barely, but we did it." Stacey said, smiling.

"Let's go to dinner. I'm starved." Mal said. We followed her and sat down at the table with macaroni and cheese. We ate it up quickly and then went back for more. I can't believe how hungry I was.

"Attention!" Mr. Woodsworth called out. "Your attention please!" Everyone quieted down and looked towards him.

"Thank you. I just want to thank you so much for all the hard work you've all done. The school looks amazing. In case you didn't know, Claudia pained a mural in the front lobby today, so be sure to go look at it. Also, I just want to apologize again to those of you who got sick from the turkey. I'm so sorry that happened."

"It's alright Mr. Woodsworth." Ms. Reynolds said, standing up. "And it was our pleasure to come here and serve the Zuni community."

"Tonight, we will be having a big bomb fire outside in the town center. Everyone will be there. I advise wearing long pants and shirts because the mosquitoes are nasty this time of year." Mr. Woodsworth said, sitting down.

The room suddenly came to life and kids dashed their plates to the counter and ran to change. Us BSC members followed, but we were too tired to dash anywhere that night.


	10. Chapters 17 and 18

Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

Claudia-Friday Night

So here we are. It's our last night. We finished all of our projects-the mural turned out great! I love it and I'm very proud of it. Everyone else loved it too. After dinner, we had a bomb fire. All the kids were with their pen pals, the adults were talking and the BSC was talking, some more privately than others…

Shea, Charlotte and I finished the mural this afternoon. It looks really good. It's a map of the US, which we outlined in black and pained yellow. In New Mexico, there is a star where Zuni is. In Connecticut, there's a star where Stoneybrook is. Around the starts are pictures of the pen pals. Across the middle of the map, we wrote "Zuni Elementary School & Stoneybrook Elementary School: Sisters" It turned out really good. All the kids loved seeing their pictures. Don't worry, though. We're going to send pictures of other pen pals who aren't here now. Mr. Woodsworth also made me put a BSC picture by Stoneybrook.

After dinner, we got dressed and went outside. A fire was going full blaze and it was nice and warm. I sat down on a log and looked around. Logan and Mary Anne were together, talking quietly. Mal and Jessi were talking. Kristy, Dawn and Stacey were talking. The kids were with their pen pals…I saw Nancy and Haley, and Jordan and Sam.

"Claudia? Earth to Claud!" Stacey said, waving a hand in front of my face. I looked at her and saw Dawn and Kristy laughing.

"What?"

"I said, what's better: a Snickers or a Milky Way?"

"Snickers. Why?"

"Just wondering." Stacey said, laughing.

"What? What's going on?"

"Nothing. It's not important. What are you thinking about?"

"Of how I want a S'more." I said, and the girls laughed. We became involved in a discussion of the latest fashion trends and nail polish colors. Kristy left us and joined Mal and Jessi. I jumped when I heard Ms. Bessers voice.

"All Stoneybrookers! I'm afraid it's time for bed. We have to be up at five AM tomorrow!"

All the kids groaned, but they said good-night and got up. We followed them inside and helped them into bed. We didn't want to go to bed just yet, so we went to the gym and sat at a table. Logan joined us.

"I can't believe that the week is already over." Dawn said. "I don't really want to leave."

"I know. Most of the kids don't either." Kristy said.

"I'm really surprised." Stacey said. "Charlotte really held herself together."

"I know." I said.

"I think Jordan and Byron are ready to go home." Logan said.

"Why?" Mal asked, sounding kind of concerned.

"I think they want to see Adam. I heard them talking about that again."

"Oh." Mal said. "They'll be okay. I mean, what are they going to do when the get to college?"

"True." said Jessi. "Well, I'm going to bed."

"Me too." I said, getting up. "Good-night."

"'Night." Everyone said as Jessi and I walked to the girls' room. I fell into my bed and went to sleep instantly.

**Chapter Eighteen**

Haley-Saturday morning

Today we had to say good-bye to the Zuni people because we had to go home. I didn't want to say good-bye. I'm having such a good time and I really like hanging out with Nancy. Even being here with the boys is fun…

"Good morning Ladies!" Ms. Reynolds called out. "Time to rise and shine!"

I rolled over and groaned. I slowly sat up and saw Kristy and Mary Anne getting out of bed. The rest of us were still in the horizontal position. I was about to lay back down and then I remembered that we flew home today.

I sat up and got out of bed. I went to the bathroom and washed up. I returned to the girls' dorm and found the room alive and kicking. Girls were trying to close suitcases and fold up cots. I quickly got dressed and packed up my bag. I checked my travel bag to make sure I had the stuff for the plane, as well as Nancy's present. I stripped the sheets off my cot and tried to fold it up. By this time, everyone was doing that, but the girl's couldn't do them. So we called in Logan and he came and folded all of our cots.

We went to breakfast, which was cereal and toast. We ate quickly because it was a long ride to the airport. As soon as we were done, we loaded up the van.

"10 minutes till the van leaves." Mrs. Randolph said. I went inside to use the bathroom one more time and then I found Nancy.

We looked at each other and immediately we began to cry.

"I'll miss you." I whimpered. She just nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I have something for you." I said. I reached into my bag and pulled out 2 matching lockets. They were heart-shaped and on gold chains. One said "Best" and the other said "Friends". I gave her one and put the other one on.

"Thanks Haley. I've never had a best friend before."

"Well, you are one of my best friends."

"Same here."

"Okay Stoneybrookers! Time to board the van!" Ms. Reynolds called. I looked around and saw all of the kids hugging their pen pals. Even the boys. I looked at Nancy and gave her one long, last hug.

"I have something for you too." Nancy said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a Polaroid of the two of us. I took it and looked at.

"Thanks. Be sure to write!" I called as I walked to the van.

"You too!" Nancy called. I climbed into the van and as the door closed behind me, I saw Nancy's mom giving her a hug. Nancy had buried her face into her Mom's sweater and her shoulders were shaking. I starting crying again, too.

In fact, most of the kids on the van were crying. Mary Anne was sitting next to me and she put her arm around me. We rode to the airport in silence.


	11. Chapters 19 and 20

Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

Logan-Saturday

We had to leave Zuni today. It was hard to say good-bye to everyone. A lot of the kids on the van to the airport were crying. I was between Byron and Jordan and, believe it or not, they were both crying. I didn't know exactly what to say, so I just put my arms around them…

Okay, now Mary Anne is super sensitive and she knows exactly what to do with people who are crying. Me…not so much. I honestly did not know what to do when Byron and Jordan were crying. I just put my arms around them and hoped that they felt like I was comforting them.

After awhile all the kids had stopped crying and most of them had fallen asleep, leaning on the windows, the BSC members, or each other. The ride was pretty quiet. About 10 minutes from the airport, Ms. Reynolds turned around from the drivers seat and told us BSC members to wake up the kids. We did so.

"All right kids. We're almost at the airport." That woke the kids up a little bit, but not much. "Does everyone remember who your partners are?"

"Partners?" somebody asked. Whoever it was sounded more asleep than awake.

"Your partners…the BSC member you were with at the airport when we arrived."

"Oh yeah."

"The partners are the same, so stay close. BSC members, I have all the boarding passes, so be sure to come and get the 2 of them from me."

By this time, Mr. Woodsworth had parked the van and had begun emptying luggage. We retrieved it all and said good-bye.

"You be sure to drop by anytime you're in New Mexico!" He called as he drove away. We all stood and waved until we couldn't see the van anymore. We all turned to the airport and headed in.

Jackie was my partner and we had quite an adventure. First of all, Jackie tripped right off the bat, even before we got in the airport. He cut his knee, so we had to find a band-aid. Then, while I was checking in our luggage, Jackie found the fake tree he had tried to climb last week, but I had stopped him. By the time I realized what was happening, Jackie was already 10 feet into the tree.

"Jackie!" I called, running to the tree. "Get down from there!"

Jackie moved around and tried to come down, but he couldn't.

"I can't Logan! I'm stuck!"

"Okay. Just stay still, okay?" I called back. Jackie nodded. I turned and called for Ms. Besser. She came over and wasn't exactly amused at what Jackie had done. However, she went and got someone with a ladder and Jackie was brought back down.

"Thank you so much." Ms. Besser said.

"No problem. Happens all the time." The man with the ladder said.

"_Yeah right. Kids try to climb a fake tree and get stuck are every day occurrences."_

I was pretty annoyed with Jackie.

"I'm sorry Logan. Really." Jackie said, looking up at me.

"I know you are. But don't let anything like this happen again, okay?"

"Okay."

Jackie kept his promise. We boarded the plane and took off without any more mishaps. The flight was long and we all fell asleep at one time or another. Some even slept the entire way.

We landed at JFK Airport around 3 PM. I absolutely hate time change. It messes up my entire body. When we flew out to New Mexico, we gained two hours, but now we lost 2 hours. What a waste of time! We started up the tunnel to the terminal. I could hear a lot of people calling out, but I was in for quite a surprise when we entered the terminal.

**Chapter Twenty**

Dawn-Saturday

I can't believe all the people who were at the airport to greet us! Everyone's family was there. Some grandparents had even come along. I quickly found Mom and Richard and we had a big reunion…

We trudged off the plane, grumpy because we were all tired. I was saying something to Mary Anne about time change when we entered the terminal. I stopped short in what I was saying and just stared at the scene in front of me.

There was a huge banner that read "WELCOME BACK!" and everyone's family was there. I quickly picked out Mom and Richard and ran to them, forgetting all about being grumpy.

"Oh Dawn. It's so good to see you!" Mom gushed.

"I missed you too, Mom." I said. I looked around and saw a lot of happy faces. Jessi and her family were all together, Jessi holding Squirt. Logan was tossing Hunter into the air, the Pike triplets were talking together, Matt and Haley were signing very quickly to each other, Charlotte was buried in her mother's coat, and Mrs. Randolph was kissing her husband. I smiled at the scene.

"Well, should we go get the luggage?" Richard asked. "And then maybe we can stop for dinner on the way home."

"Great!" I said. "I'm starved."

"Me too." Mary Anne said.

"Then let's get a move on." Mom said. We made our way through the airport and got our luggage. We got into the car and Mary Anne and I talked non-stop about what had all happened. Mom and Richard listened and asked questions. We stopped at a health food restaurant and sat down. Mary Anne and I managed to shovel in some food in-between telling stories. Mom and Richard especially liked the story of how Jackie got stuck in a fake tree.

"That kid must be a handful." Mom said. I nodded.

"Yeah, but he tries hard to be good." I said.

"It must be tough to be accident-prone." Mom replied.

"Not as bad as being scatter-brained." I teased. Mom smiled sheepishly.

We finished our dinner and went home. Mary Anne and I sat on my bed and talked about the trip. We both fell asleep on my bed.


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Dawn

So our trip is over. It's an experience I'll never forget and the Zuni people will always be close to my heart. I can't wait to go back there sometime. Hey! Maybe they can come here once and see Stoneybrook!

Haley

I got a letter from Nancy a few days after we got back. She was really glad she got to meet me and she never takes off her locket. I'm so glad I got to meet her and my locket never comes off either…

Logan

I'm so glad I went on that trip. I still feel really bad about what happened to Mary Anne, even though she told me that it wasn't my fault over and over again. But I'll apologize once again…Mary Anne, I'm so sorry!

Jordan

Byron and I were right about Adam. We had a long talk when we got back. I don't know if telepathy is real or not, but it sure proved right in our case. Adam did miss us, just as much as Byron and I missed him. I just don't know what's going to happen when we grow up!

Kristy

There are only two things I can say about this trip.

It was great and I'm so glad I went.

I HATE TURKEY AND I'M NEVER EATING IT AGAIN!

Claudia

I sent the rest of pictures to Mr. Woodsworth and he sent me back a picture of the mural. It's really nice. I copied the picture for all those who went on the trip, and I enlarged my copy and hung it on my wall.

Jackie

I got in trouble from mom and dad about climbing that tree. I can't climb trees for 2 weeks now! But I just want to say I'm sorry again for doing that.

Dawn

So all in all, everyone's glad they went on the trip. And in case you're wondering, Kristy did eat turkey after the trip…Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think.


End file.
